Automobile Racing in 2010

Grand Prix Racing

In 2010 the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Formula One (F1) world drivers’ championship was won by Sebastian Vettel of Germany. The 23-year-old Red Bull driver became the youngest champion in F1 history as he secured the title when he won the season-ending Abu Dhabi (U.A.E.) Grand Prix on November 14, his third victory in four races. Vettel, who finished second to Jenson Button of the U.K. in the 2009 drivers’ standings, was six months younger than Britain’s Lewis Hamilton was when he won the championship in 2008. With an unprecedented four drivers still in contention for the title heading into the race in Abu Dhabi, Vettel won his season-leading 10th pole to put pressure on points leader Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) of Spain. In order to grab the title, Vettel had to either win the race and have Alonso finish outside the top four, or place second and have both Alonso and Red Bull teammate Mark Webber of Australia (ranked second going in) finish even farther behind him. Vettel ran a smooth race for his fifth victory of the season, while Alonso finished seventh after Ferrari made a poor decision to direct him to pit early, and he got stuck behind a pair of other drivers for nearly 40 laps.

Vettel finished the 19-race season with 256 points, 4 more than Alonso, who also won five races. Webber, with four victories and 242 points, was eighth in Abu Dhabi and third overall for the season. McLaren teammates Hamilton, who prevailed in three races, and Button, who won twice, finished fourth and fifth with 240 and 214 points, respectively. Vettel and Webber also helped Red Bull win its first constructors’ championship, earning 498 points to defeat McLaren (454) and Ferrari (396). Ferrari had gone two full seasons without any title; the team’s record 16th constructors’ title was in 2008, and Kimi Raikkonen of Finland last won the drivers’ championship for Ferrari in 2007.

The point totals for drivers were much higher in 2010 on the basis of one of many rule changes for the sport. The new points system rewarded the top 10 drivers in a race while giving the winner 25 points. The second-place driver earned 18 points, followed by 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1. The FIA also decided to impose a ban on refueling during races in order to reduce costs, putting greater emphasis on tire management. The top qualifiers were at a disadvantage at the start of races because they had to race on the tires they used to qualify, while those outside the top 10 were able to start with fresh tires. Drivers also had to use one set of hard tires and one softer option during the race, which meant that one pit stop was mandatory. Double diffusers, which manage air flow under the car, were back despite having caused trouble in 2009 as teams had trouble interpreting rules that regulated the design of the diffusers. The KERS power-boost system was banished after many teams had spent large amounts of money to develop the technology in 2009, though only Ferrari and McLaren used it on a regular basis.

Grand Prix racing welcomed back a veteran in 2010 as seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher returned after three years in retirement to race for Mercedes GP. The 41-year-old German had tried to make a comeback in 2009, when he was set to fill in for Brazilian Felipe Massa at Ferrari after Massa was involved in a near-fatal crash while attempting to qualify for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Schumacher, however, was unable to race owing to lingering effects of neck and back injuries he had suffered in an earlier motorcycle crash. Schumacher was ninth in the 2010 standings with 72 points, finishing a season-best fourth in three races, but he failed to earn a victory, pole position, podium spot, or fastest lap for the first time since making his debut in 1991. At the Hungarian Grand Prix in August, Schumacher, who in the past had been condemned for his racing tactics, had an incident with former teammate Rubens Barrichello of Brazil. Race stewards said that Schumacher “illegitimately impeded” Barrichello on the 66th lap after appearing to try to force the Brazilian into a concrete pit wall. Massa, meanwhile, returned from his horrific accident to finish sixth in the standings with 144 points, landing on the podium five times. He was embroiled in some controversy, though, at the German Grand Prix on July 25, the one-year anniversary of his accident. Massa led 49 of 67 laps before allowing teammate Alonso to pass him, following Ferrari radio instructions. Alonso went on to win the race, and Ferrari was subsequently fined $100,000 by the FIA for having issued illegal team orders during the race. The World Motor Sport Council met in September but decided not to strip Alonso of the victory, dock the team points, or impose another fine.

The 2010 season saw the debut of three new teams: Virgin, Lotus, and Hispania. Virgin drivers were Timo Glock (Germany) and Lucas di Grassi (Brazil). Jarno Trulli (Italy) and Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) were with Lotus. Karun Chandhok (India), Christian Klien (Austria), Sakon Yamamoto (Japan), and Bruno Senna (Brazil)—nephew of three-time F1 champion Ayrton Senna—all drove for Hispania. Following the season the Williams team announced that Nico Hulkenberg had left the team following his F1 debut season. The 23-year-old German, who took the pole at the Brazilian Grand Prix, finished 14th in the drivers’ championship. Williams also said that it would bring back Barrichello after he finished 10th in the standings.

Former Ferrari team principal Jean Todt of France replaced Max Mosley as FIA president in January, three months after having been elected. Mosley, who had headed the governing body since 1993, was known for his power struggles with teams and had been involved in a sex scandal in 2008.

Click anywhere inside the article to add text or insert superscripts, subscripts, and special characters.
You can also highlight a section and use the tools in this bar to modify existing content:

Add links to related Britannica articles!
You can double-click any word or highlight a word or phrase in the text below and then select an article from the search box.
Or, simply highlight a word or phrase in the article, then enter the article name or term you'd like to link to in the search box below, and select from the list of results.

Note: we do not allow links to external resources in editor.
Please click the Web sites link for this article to add citations for
external Web sites.